CULTIVATION CONDITIONS:

The first thing we must work on is the development of the tree, both the thickening of the trunk and the increase in secondary branching. An ideal bonsai would have a height of about 6 times the diameter of the nebari (6: 1 ratio). Although for tropical trees relations 8: 1 or 10: 1 is acceptable since the growth is more accelerated than the conifers.

The nebari is the lower part of the trunk, just above the roots, the term is Japanese.

So for this small tree, in terms of cultivation, I would apply two techniques to achieve the development I want: one would be planted in a colander with a substrate of thicker particles and the other technique would be that of branches of sacrifice.

1. Strainer technique:

With this technique we will achieve a better root development, with many roots or secondary roots, this root development will cause the crown or foliage to react with a strong sprouting of new branches, which we will pinch to achieve that secondary branch of the foliage that we want to achieve a compact cup.

When I speak of colander I mean a container with multiple holes, both on the sides and on the underside.

This is an example of the strainer technique, I am using it in this juniper that was attacked by a red spider and is already healthy, but I want it to develop more branching and thickness of the trunk in less time, so I planted it here and I am using fertilization high in nitrogen, in about 6 months you will see how it developed.

If you notice that after a while the growth stopped and you see rootlets wanting to get out of the colander, it is time to put that colander inside a larger container with a substrate similar to the one used inside the colander, this will keep the rootlets and pass to the largest container, this is similar to planting the tree on the ground in your garden and then collect it when it has greater thickness and size. This technique will facilitate the work at the time of making the collection and transplant it to a pot of bonsai.

A typical behavior observed in my lemon plant, is that it tends to take roots down, very deep, rather than to the sides, so you must pay close attention when planting it in the colander.

2. Technique of branches of sacrifice:

With this technique you will achieve the thickening of both the trunk (although it is slower), and the primary branches, but we must be very careful so that the thickness is not greater than desired, remembering that as we approach the apex of the tree the branches and the trunk should be thinner than those of the lower part, more or less conical tendency, never cylindrical. Also be very careful with this technique if you use tutors as the wire, because with the rapid thickening you can mark the trunk or branches and is something that does not look good in bonsai.

This technique is very simple, just let a branch grow freely to enrich the whole part where it is connected and once you achieve the thickness you have in mind for the design of the tree, you go and cut it. Of course, to achieve an accelerated growth you must also provide space to the roots or rather, the technique you mentioned earlier.

Here I give you an example of how I let the branches grow to swell and then, a few months later, short to define the design of the bonsai.

This would be a scheme of the two jobs in terms of cultivation.

Fertilization:

In terms of fertilization, citrus trees in addition to requiring amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (N, P, K) have a high demand for micronutrients especially magnesium (Mg), so do not hesitate to make foliar sprays of microelements (currently they already sell fertilizers with this formula). Remember also that to encourage the growth of the foliage we must apply fertilizers with higher concentration of nitrogen (N). Never abuse nitrogenous fertilizers because we can burn our plants, I recommend applying little but constant to much at once. Always apply half the dose recommended by the manufacturer, this recommendation is for friends who are starting in the world of gardening and bonsai.

When you want to obtain fruits, apply Boron and Zinc microelements, in addition to the fertilizer with high content of Phosphorus, this with aspercion to the leaves to encourage the plant to emit flowers, after they are fertilized the flowers apply fertilizer to the soil with high content of potassium, this for the growth of the fruits.

DESIGN OF BONSAI

Speaking of design it is evident that this little tree fits very well into the design of a double trunk bonsai style (SOKAN). A great strength that has this pre bonsai is that being young still has elasticity to bend and direct branches without much difficulty using the fence and the tensors as tutors. One characteristic of citrus trees is that their wood is hard, so it tends to break when bending, so you have to be very careful when you bend the branches.

(Picture of @creativetruth)

We know that first of all we must define the front of the future bonsai, I will start from the front already captured in the photograph of the friend @creativetruth. To understand the design on which I will work, we must define the parameters of the double trunk style in Bonsai (SOKAN), these are the most outstanding:

1. They are two trees, one large and one small, joined at their base.
2. The first branch must be located in the smallest tree.
3. Both trees share their base and their radical system and ideally should separate right at their birth, their apices should be oriented in the same direction.
4. The largest tree that is the main one must have the thickest trunk. In my Bonsai school we say that in this case the Principal is the Father and the secondary is the mother, in the case of being triple trunk the third is the eldest son and so on.
5. At the time of planting a double troop, one of them, the main and highest should be logeramente ahead of the other.
6. There will be two trees worked independently but the foliage must make a single composition or a single volume.

The first thing I do is to clean the image to leave only the trunk, then I will number each step I make with this plant to describe it below and to finish I will make a sketch of how this little plant should look.

Now, once I have removed the background, I make the numeration of each step I make, the numbering is in red, for the smallest tree and in green for what would be our main tree. I hope you can understand everything that I will explain below:

1.This branch is crossing the trunk something that is considered a defect in the bonsai, cut it a little and use it to build the apex of the small tree.

2. Cut this branch, the wire fence next to the small trunk (from the base of the troco, to the tip of this branch) and position it as the first branch or ichinoeda.

3. Just where this number should be the apex of the small tree. This will be achieved by moving the tree with wires.

4. Clamp the trunk as mentioned above and move it to the right.

5. Remove this set of twigs including the stump that comes out below, so that the main branch is clean, in the future the foliage will be structured with secondary branch, now we are interested in assembling the main structure of the tree.

6. This branch would be the first branch of the main tree or the second branch of the composition, so we must develop it, this would be a branch where we would apply the branch technique of sacrifice, that is, let grow and cut in the future.

7.Cut the stump and correct with wire the U that is formed between the branch and the trunk.

8.This branch would use it as a branch of depth, cut it a bit, the wire and the positionary back.

9.This is a critical point, because we have a lot of space without branches, the possible solution is to bend the trunk a bit in this part using wires, but because this part of the tree is very important we can not afford to bend and break that part of the trunk, so I recommend using raffia and a wire guide before wiring and do the doubles, something I recommend doing little by little, since the citrics as mentioned above are very brittle. Also a possible solution is to make a graft of a branch to the right side, opposite to the first branch of the main tree, but this technique must be applied by someone with experience in grafts, so that it is successful and does not leave visible scars.

10.The branches of this area will be cut and we will use them to form the apex of the main tree.

Before making a final sketch of the tree, first I show the image of the trunk when applying a pruning and then with some bends. Here is a representation of the general pruning of the tree:

Now, I do the times that I made the fence and fold the branches and the trunk locating them in the places where I need them:

To finish I make a sketch with the Photoshop tool Cs6 more or less what I had in mind from the beginning for this tree. To get to this you have to travel a path of between 6 and 10 years, pruning, wiring, letting grow and cut, defoliation to achieve sheet reduction, placing and removing tensioners, etc, etc and etc ... but I think it is worth sorry to work and wait to get these results, I hope you have especially liked my friend @creativetruth, I would love to know, what do you think of this design for your tree?

Ladies and gentlemen and with you!....................................TA - TAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!

I take this opportunity to include myself in the #TeamBonsai hehehe accept me?...... @romanolsamuels and @imagendevoz

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